Twenty-Three - So Very Good

Today is yucky outside. But inside, today is PERFECT nap weather! The rain is falling softly on the grass outside my window. There is an occasional roll of thunder. Not too close but close enough that it would be a bit soothing while laying in my bed. The lighting in here would mimic evening if I could turn all of the lights off. But I can't. Boo!

There is a three year old that would NOT have all day nap time! AND...Apparently it is my job to clean the house. Part of staying home is to make sure our little house stays clean I suppose. So I thought this week I might share a little bit of my crunchy-ness. 

	Crunchy Granola
	Noun. A person who is lives in a healthy, green, vegetarian way. This person often supports Greenpeace and other such environmental and anti-war groups.

Now I am not as "crunchy" as some but I would like to think that I do try to live healthy and green. And the "green" part is what I intend to focus on this week. But first...one of my favorite covers (:

So for a while I made laundry soap as well as dish washing soap. The soap for the dish washer I was not so crazy about but I intend to find a better recipe for that one! I will be making laundry soap later on this week and will give directions for that. Today though I want to focus on the kitchen.

A while back our family ditched chemical cleaners for counter tops, refrigerator, and stove top. Turns out one part vinegar to one part water cleans just as well...even better IMHO (if you aren't crazy about vinegar smell..which really I don't even notice, you can add a couple drops of lemon or orange essential oils and that will help). I do much prefer that smell to chemicals. After cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms I would often have an awful headache and be done for the rest of the day. That is part of what made us look into another way of cleaning (and it is WAY cheaper!). I am not sure why we have turned away from some of the things our Grandma's used to do. Baking soda...Should I begin with all of the things you can do with baking soda. Hmm..Maybe I will...But not today :P

Now to our dishwasher. It is old. It probably should be replaced. Not our job since we rent our house. So for now we will have an old dishwasher that is stinky. Well WAS stinky until today! In the past we have tried to stuff from the store that you put upside down and run the washer blah blah blah. Those never really worked very well for us...But today I found THIS post. All you need is vinegar and baking soda. Run you dishwasher with 1c. of vinegar on the top rack. When finished, take out the vinegar, and then sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the washer. Run again and VIOLA! Smells better and maybe even sparkles a tad :) You can also take 1c. of vinegar, put it in your microwave, run for about a minute and then wipe down.

I also found THIS post for the garbage disposal. Heat up half a cup of lemon juice (I used the fake stuff because that is what we had). Once hot add half a cup of baking soda while mixing. Let me say you should do this slowly (because I didn't) because it will foam. A lot. Pour that down the disposal with it on. After a bit run the hot water and you are done! Once a week. I bet once every other week would do just fine.

So am I granola crunchy? Maybe a little bit..We try to eat things with 5 ingredients or less (look at the ingredients in a load of bread...), try to cut out high fructose corn syrup, use less chemicals when we can, maybe one day we will plant a garden...but for now I think our Grandma's had it right when it came to cleaning. Seems like baking soda, vinegar, water, and a little Dawn went a long way!

So reduce, reuse, recycle!
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good!

Eighteen - Just a Destination

I am SO sorry I haven't posted in a while... It has been encouraging to those to have commented to me asking where my posts went! I am glad people are reading but also glad that some of you out there seem to be enjoying my posts (: It makes me smile.

Today I do not have a DIY (although I am prepping for one tomorrow that I am REALLY REALLY excited about!!). Today I just want to share some thoughts...

So yesterday was an exceptionally challenging day. Maybe a song that can give you a feel of my day...Then some background.

Ryan and I got married in 2005. From June 2006 to October 2007 Ryan was deployed. In July 2008 we had Aaden. In February 2010 we had Annabelle. In July 2012 Ryan was deployed again. He was supposed to be home on July 20th of this year BUT he tore his ACL and is in medical holding (or whatever fancy military term they have for it..). He is still not home yet (four hundred thirty nine days gone so far!). I have family in town and some really great friends that have stepped up and helped us out. Those people have been a tremendous blessing in my life but especially in the life of our kiddos! But with all of that I feel like I have a better understanding of how a single parent feels (granted I don't have to work full-time through out all of this and have been able to stay home for almost two months now). Let me just say, you know a single parent? Give them a hug and tell them how great of a job they are doing!! Momma's we need to stick together!!

I am so tired of feeling like I am being judged by other people. Which leads me back to my challenging day yesterday. It was just tough. The Big One was upset at me in the morning and the Little One was upset with me in the afternoon. I was frustrated at all the hiccups in my day. So we were all pretty grumpy. Aaden had a wonderful idea to go to McDonald's for dinner. They could play, I could take a break and everyone would be happy... Right..?? Wrong. Long story short the Little One was mad because she couldn't go back in the Play Place. So she was pitching a fit. She was SCREAMING in the middle of McDonald's. So in the middle of cleaning up our food, get all of our belongings together, and dodge glaring eyes I heard a comment of an older woman that cut right through me... "Look at that. And she doesn't even have any shoes on!" Seemingly not so awful comment (and admittedly I tend to take things much more personally than I should...) but man! That one just got to me. I wanted to turn around to her, glare the nastiest look I could conger and tell her what was what. But I (as nicely as I could and trying not to cry) asked Aaden to get her shoes so we could go.

Now the point of this story is not to make you feel sorry for me! Please don't. We are doing just fine and I am pretty sure we have ALL had these days. But this made me think...How many comments have I made to Ryan, thinking that I wasn't heard, that ended up crushing somebody else's spirit?? I hope that hasn't happened but I am afraid that it may have. I want to take this opportunity to challenge you (and myself) to STOP JUDGING! No more comments, snide remarks, or mean thoughts. In my moments of "challenge" the most encouraging thing for me is to hear, "You really are doing a great job. Keep up the good work!" So Momma's out there (and even though some of you aren't Momma's yet) spread the love! And my goodness can we all just try to be nice?!

SO I leave you with another favorite of mine..This one, much more hopeful than the first, is one that I go to for encouragement...

Ten - Two is Better Than One

Luck you for reading my blog today! You get a two-fer! But first, a song... (:

Things are super-busy in our little household. And I like it. But because of that there was no post yesterday. There was a PinProject though. A fun one! And we had a friend over to help (: I found this Play-Doh pin here.
**I must insert  a disclaimer here. I took the pictures with my phone. I sent the pictures to my computer TWICE using my phone. I don't know who I ACTUALLY sent the pictures too because I did this at 2:30pm and it is now 10:14pm as I am typing this and I still have no pictures. SO if or ever I receive them, I will update with the pictures! So until them, use your imagination.)**

I remember making Play-Doh as a kid. I guess deep deep down I have always been "artsy-fartsy" (which is a term being thrown around a lot lately) so any chance I got to make something, I loved it!

This recipe used flour, salt, cream of tartar, vegetable oil, Jell-O mix, and water.
**Insert picture of supplies here.**

Then my trusty side kick mixed everything together.
**Insert a picture of Annabelle sitting on the kitchen floor mixing everything.**

Then we cooked it. Make sure to keep on stirring because I am pretty sure it wouldn't take long for the dough to burn.
**Insert pot on stove with a blueish-green slime substance in it.**

After a minute or so of cooking...
**This would have been a picture of me holding up the spoon with the Play-Doh starting to form.**

Finally looking a little doughy!
**Imagine the dough fully formed in the pot.**

Take it out and let it cool (after cooling you need to knead it. We skipped this step...because I forgot...and the dough stayed sticky).
**This would have been a picture of the Play-Doh in an air-tight container.**

And viola! Homemade Play-Doh! And since you add Jell-O (we used some kind of mixed berry) if makes your hands smell really good!

Now for Part Duex! How to Clean Your Microfiber Couch (do you know what would make this post better?? THE PICTURES THAT I TOOK THAT WON'T LOAD! Grr!).

All you need is a white/neutral sponge, a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol, and a brash (I bought a brush you would use for dishes).
**Insert picture of supplies here**

You generously spray the stain (after blotting it up) with the alcohol.
**Insert picrute of arm of couch where BBQ sauce was spilled here**

Rub the are with the sponge until all of the stain comes out.
**Insert picture of arm of couch doused in rubbing alcohol**

Once dried, use the brush to smooth out the microfiber (because it will become kind of...crunchy after it dries)
**Insert "after" picture.**

This is where I could compare the "before" and "after" pictures here, but alas, I don't have them. I don't think anybody would notice where this happened on our couch but I know and I can kind of see where the stain was. Lesson here? Don't spill BBQ sauce on the microfiber couch and if you do...Just blame it on the kids :P

Eight - Keep Breathing

I should start this post with an apology. I am sorry. I am sorry that I haven't posted all weekend. But honestly you expect too much from me! I post AND a craft/recipe/great idea every day! Not happening. So don't put that pressure on me. You are making me feel guilty!

Okay..honestly. That rant is false. I decided to do this and, if you know me, you know that if I could get paid to craft, I TOTALLY would. I put too my expectations on myself and sometimes on others. So I am making an official decision about this challenge. Only during the week will you find crafty posts. I Am saving the weekend for myself (so be prepared for "personal" posts), for my family, and for my sanity!

I want to share a song... Remember about me and music (see here)?? This is one of those songs that I have always come back to. Listen to the chorus and it should make sense. And I really like the harmony in it (:

I have come to the conclusion that Facebook and/or Pinterest put too much pressure for us (as mothers/women/parents/people) to be a good or better than our friends! Perfect dinner, immaculate houses, perfectly temper kids, being a perfectly tempered parent...We see this represented in our friends statuses but I don't think things are always as rosy as they may appear. And maybe, sometimes, they are but I know I have put myself in the place of trying to "compete" with those on FB and really...It can be exhausting. There is this GREAT book called 7 by Jen Hatmaker. Maybe I will share my thoughts on that in the near future.

Now I want to vent. Just for a little bit, and not for you to feel sorry for me. We will survive! Today was rough. Waking up and getting myself ready is enough but throw two little ones in the mix that don't really want to wake up...Well now we are 15 minutes late. We get to church and all is well until the big one doesn't want to go to Children's Church. I try to LOVING escort him to class without letting my mad face show. Crap. There in was. In front his teacher. Nothing to eventful after that until we make it home to lunch. They need a nap. Can't they see that?? No nap. We head off to our Small Group where we fight about swimming, and not wanting to eat, and then wanting to eat, and he took my toy, and she splashed me, and I don't want to dry off, and we don't want to go home, and BREATHE! At the end of the day I fall back on a verse. It is my favorite. It's not a grand, profound scripture. Simple and reassuring...

He will cover you with his feathers.

He will shelter you with his wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Psalm 91:4

I know that when I am completely overwhelmed with life, I have God to fall back on, or really, should probably be depending on through out instead of waiting until I am overwhelmed before I look to Him.

Keep on truckin'! And if you are an overwhelmed Momma and need to know you aren't the only one, here are some of my favorite posts that remind me that I am not alone.

One.
Two.

I will have a crafty post tomorrow. Thank you for listening to me vent (:

Six - The Little Old Bird Woman.

I like music. A lot. I like music a lot. I take music to heart and have a song(s) for every stage, event, whatever. Songs that represent bad times and well as good. Songs for senior year of high school and songs that remind me of my childhood. This is one of those songs that sticks out to me.

It is from Mary Poppins and even as a child I can remember loving when this part of the movie came on. The melody is so moving to me and still gives me goosebumps. In this song Mary Poppins is trying to teach Jane and Michael that there are maybe better ways that they can invest their money. Listen here if you want. Love this song (:

The only way that this correlates to Pinterest is that we made bird feeders...I have the feeling this might be my first FAIL. I found the link to the delightful little bird feeders here.

So we gathered all of our supplies (1/2 c. water, 3/4 c. flour, 1 envelope gelatin, 3 Tbsp. light syrup, and 4 c. bird seed).

I REALLY need to find the charger for my camera because the phone camera is NOT cutting it!!

Then we mixed it all together.

Laid out our parchment paper and spread this nasty mixture all over. Got out our trusted cookies cutters and cut away. At this point the mixture was still...not solid. Kind of crumbly so some of the forms didn't work so well. The circle was the best. Used a straw to make a place to be hung from.

And now we wait. The post said that they would set over night so hopefully in the AM we will have nice little bird feeders to hang around the yard!

I am hoping with the amount of mess made in this one will produce lots of birds watching for the kiddos...otherwise we won't be don't this one again!

Check back for an update!

Five - "A Little Nonsense Now and Then, is Relished by the Wisest Men.

The quote in my title is from the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I always loved that movie as a kid (and still do actually). I wanted to be in that group as they walked through the doors of Wonka's world of candy (which FYI was apparently their real reactions. They didn't get to see the set until they filmed it that first time). To be in a place where everything is editable! And candy no less! Now I am not typically one for chocolate but you give me gummies, lollipops, Twizzlers...Oh my I usally make myself sick off of those things! So the inspiration for tonight's post was easy...and I found it here. We made gummies!!

For this you will need candy molds (which we found at Michael's really cheap!) or the funky ice cube trays, 2 boxes of Jell-O, three packets of Knox gelatine packets, and 2/3 c. of water.

Next you add the water to a saucepan. Add all the Jell-O and gelatin mix as well. Let that sit for a few minutes. I kind of sloshed it around to make sure all the water was absorbed. Next I heated it until all the gelatin was dissolved...Seriously about two minutes.

When all is dissolved, remove from heat and let sit for about 5 minutes. Once the gummie mixture is cooled, transfer to something pour-able and mold away!! You have to be a tad careful because they are easy to over fill.

The directions I had wanted to gummies to sit for 20 to 30 minutes. We started this before dinner so once everything was cooked and eaten (an hour and a half or so) we were ready to try our gummies! You stick your finger on top and peel those bad boys, gently, out of the mold!

The ones poured into the candy molds were a bit easier to get out but that wouldn't stop me from using the ice trays again. They weren't difficult to get out.

Now I must post a disclaimer with this post. These things are good. Like, really good. Imagine a Jell-O flavored gummie (and if you are going to tell me you don't like Jell-O I feel like there is something wrong with you!!). Nom nom nom. They are so good that my kids are probably not going to get very many and I many or many not have a tummy ache from all of them that I have eaten so far this evening. MmmMmmm!

Four - Never Could Be Sweeter Than with You.

Seriously. Can we watch this for a second?? Or like for one hundred sixty nine seconds? Whatever.

So stinkin' cute!!

Another busy day in the McRoberts household so I searched through my DIY board to find a  pin that I could do out of what I already had at home. Now there were several that I stopped to think about...But no I didn't have that right beads for that one, and I don't have the hands or the right face for this one...But the I found this jewel and I knew. Today would be the day that I made something for the living room.

I love pictures and fun quotes in my living room, bed room, kitchen, bath room...Basically all over the house.We have a painting that says, "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." (Seriously?? Who out there doesn't love Moulin Rouge? And Ewan MacGregor? I digress!) There are a few scriptures and songs that I would LOVE to have posted around the house as well. The Lumineers, Dave Barnes, Alison Krauss, and a line from Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

In my garage is a pile of old wood that has been begging me to make something out of it. The original plan was to make that clock that I posted above. And you know...make that really cool stain/weathering trick that I have seen pinned all over the place with vinegar, a steel wool pad, and coffee grounds or a tea bag (which ever post you care to read). Really interested to see if that works and I hope I am able to post about it here! So I found the right slice of wood for my new project and gathered all of my supplies...Black and white acrylic paint, paint brushes, a few cups of water, and I found the perfect font to print mt quote in (Side note: You must print the quote in a mirror image...which is something I totally know and definitely didn't remember until I went to transfer to the wood!)

 And project wouldn't be complete without the Little One helping me? So we white washed our wood. I added a bit of water into the paint so the grain and knots in the wood would still show through.

So pretty (:

Next begins the transfer. So printed the quote the backwards and got my template all cut out.

You have to get the paper wet enough that the font shows though. I traced over the font with the cap of my Sharpie and that helped...Some.

The first part of this I traced over with the Shaprie so you can actually see it. The second half was just the transfer from the ink off the paper. I knew going into this that a bolder font would be best but really? Why make things easy? There's no challenge in the Pinterest CHALLENGE if I don't make it a tad difficult right?? I actually just really really really love this font and figured that I could make it work.

 I diluted the blank paint as well...to give it a more DIY feel? I'm not really sure why. Just thought it would look better.

And the finished project. It was still drying in this picture (since I diluted the black paint, I didn't want to hang it just yet so it could dry. Wouldn't want all of that hard work to run off of the wood).

Home is whenever I'm with you! Love it! Now to find the perfect spot to hang this! AND I can promise that I will be using this technique again. So cute, looks great, and I can have custom quotes for our walls! Next I think will be one of those McRoberts family Est. 2005!

Three - Dinner for You and Me

I am sitting here, at 9:46 pm, on a Tuesday night trying to come up with good words. Interesting words that you, my lovely readers, would be interested in reading.

I suppose I could go into a tad more detail about what this "Pinterest Challenge" is.
First of all let me tell you a little secret. I. Love. Pinterest. I you know me, you already know this. Problem with Pinterest is that it can become overwhelming. All of the pins, and pretty things, and recipes, and advice, and quotes and oh my goodness I love me some Pinterest! It is easy to get lost in the pinning so this challenge is a way to ACTUALLY DO the things you pin. For each day of the month you pick one pin and do it, make it, cook it, create it, whatever it is..DO IT! So on to Day Three...

Today was a busy day. After a three day weekend, waking up at 6 am was difficult. Enough said about that.

So on to today's post... This is what I made for dinner tonight. And my goodness...I loved it! AND the kids ate it (for the most part!)! Many many wins on this dinner. Sadly I have to picture documenting this dinner. Number one today was busy. Number two because the batteries in BOTH of my cameras died. Number three because as soon as this was out of the oven it was demolished! So. Yummy! I got a phone call from my step-sister a few days ago saying that she would be in town and wanted to come by. So her, my dad, and his wife all came over for dinner to be the guinea pigs on this new Pinterest recipe. Winner winner white chicken enchilada dinner!

Good dinner. Good night. Ready for bed.

Two - My Mini Me...the Artist

I has been really neat to watch our babies personalities shape. The Big One...well he is just like his Daddy. Looks, personality, interests, right down to the cow-lick on the front of his head! And the Little One...well she is all mine! She has more of a creative, hands on personality so Day Two is for her.
I found this pin for homemade finger paint and figured if it was something that I would have fun making, the Little One would too.
Sure enough. All I had to do was say, "Hey Annabelle...You want to make paint with me?" and I had a shadow for the rest of the afternoon!

First we gathered all of our ingredients...

  

And started cooking!

 Eventually something started to form.

Starting to look more like finger paint!

Finally everything came together!

So we separated the paint and added our colors!

I didn't have any air tight containers, so tiny foils pans had to do. I made not sure how well this "paint" would keep even if we did. Kind of a one use project.

But I think they turned out GREAT!!

Annab wouldn't use those little fingers of hers at first...Definitely much much easier to manipulate with fingers rather than a brush. It had the consistency kind of like hair gel, but not sticky at all!! Also, I am pretty sure that since this is mostly water and corn starch, if a little bit gets eaten, it won't hurt anybody.

So overall the Little One had a lot of fun (the Big One was too preoccupied with Mario Kart)!

We will be making this paint again! Good for a rainy day.

One - The Kinder-Cold and Chicken Noodle Soup

In October of 2007, I found out that I was pregnant with (what we would find out in 16 weeks) one Little Man, a.k.a. Aaden Scott. On August 19th of this year he started kindergarten. Umm... EXCUSE ME?? You heard me right! My precious little 8lb. 9oz., blue eyed, red haired, little baby boy started kindergarten! With that has come a whole new world of things like the buss, school lunch, homework, etc... But on thing I was certain that he would come home with was some kind of sickness whether that be sniffles, cold, throw up (but definitely hoping THAT wouldn't be brought home). But alas we made it through the first week with no sickness! And then Annab. God bless little Annab and stuffy little nose. This started Thursday and has continued through out the weekend. Aaden started with his runny nose last night. The Kinder-Cold has come to the McRoberts' household.
When I was a kid, I used to stay at my grandparents house while my parents were at work and any time I was sick I could count on Grandma to make chicken noodle soup (Campbell's! MmmMmm Good!). I remembered a pin that I has posted last week about homemade chicken noodle soup and so came my inspiration for Day One.

Luck for me we had everything at the house that we needed! My adventures in grocery shopping with Annab the day before produced a rotisserie chicken that the kids and I only ate half of. So here we go with our chicken noodle soup from "scratch"...

First of all, look at this little helper! Such a cutie!

 Here were all of the ingredients (minus celery because...we didn't have any. Oops!).

First you cook the onions and garlic in oil.

 This is where I drifted away from the recipe because the chicken was already cooked... But you add everything together to boil.

And viola! Homemade chicken noodle soup! Has been great to cure our sniffles today (:

Looking forward to a project for the kiddos for tomorrow! See you then!